So you are in business. Now you want to stay in business and see your company grow. Marketing is an important effort in gaining prospect attention, building product or service demand and winning customers. Your marketing effort is the sum total of the sales, pricing, promotional and advertising efforts implemented to promote the flow of goods or services from your business to the consumer. Marketing includes having the right merchandise or service, selecting the right location, enacting effective sales programs and promoting your company and its wares to the buying public.

It’s easy for the small business owner to find excuses for neglecting marketing. Most small businesses operate on a no-frills budget and many owners consider marketing something they can’t afford or a soft expense. Owners have said to me "I have to pay the bills. Marketing I can cut." True marketing is an expense that can be reduced or cut. The question that then arises is how without marketing do you propose to gain those much needed customers that mean sales. It’s cliché to say you have to spend money to make money, but it is absolutely true. If you do not effectively market your company, brand, image and products or services, you won’t be in business for long.

Marketing is an investment in future sales. As an entrepreneur, you must always be looking into the future and to the next sale. Customers need to be aware of you company and what it offers. Marketing is the way in which you gain those customers. Keep in mind the four P’s of marketing—product, promotion, price and place. These four elements need to work in tandem to generate the consumer interest and trigger the buying response in your audience.

Develop an annual marketing plan within your overall business plan. Figure out when you need to expend resources on a special price promotion, new product launch or advertising awareness campaign. Other aspect of your promotion may be in-store signage, outdoor signs, direct mail pieces, joint promotions, product brochures, etc. Be prepared to define the tools that will be most helpful in bringing you business. Once defined, invest money in marketing as part of your monthly operating expenses. Don’t spend needlessly, but don’t try to undercut expenses in a way that so directly affects your communication with potential, customers and those all important repeat customers.

If you would like to discuss marketing planning or developing a marketing budget, contact the SCORE® Association.

(Service Corps of Retired Executives). More than 12,000 volunteer, business counselors are available to provide free and confidential counseling to small business owners. SCORE® is a nonprofit association dedicated to the success and growth of small business. SCORE® has assisted more than 3.5 million entrepreneurs. To contact the SCORE® chapter nearest you, call 1 (800) 634-0245.